France to Increase Investment Into Kazakhstan

France has expressed interest to increase its investments into Kazakhstan as the two countries agreed to establish closer economic partnership.

To date, the European country is one of the largest foreign investors in Kazakhstan and it has invested a total of US$37 billion into the country.

General Manager of French Company, Yvan Trouillot said France is interested to invest in Kazakhstan due to its favorable investment climate as well as access to the neighboring Central Asia and European Union markets.

“We have good understanding of Kazakhstan given our experience in doing business in the country for several years. We have a branch office in Kazakhstan. We know of the country’s industrial value and ease of doing business,” he said.

Other top management of French companies said that there is a huge opportunity to invest in many sectors in Kazakhstan. These include the innovation industry as well as information technology.

“We are planning to be part of Kazakhstan’s digital transformation journey. We are looking for local Kazakh partners in order to develop and improve our solutions. We are planning to be involved in data storage and archiving projects in Kazakhstan,” chief executive of a French company, Christophe Rossi said.

Kazakhstan and France have agreed to cooperate in digital transformation and alternative energy projects.

Meanwhile, Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) had recently presented the business opportunities in Kazakhstan to potential investors at a business forum in France. The forum was organized by the Kazakh Embassy in France.

The presentation includes the privileges and preferences given to foreign entrepreneurs and investors in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh Ambassador to France Jean Galiyev said the prospects of cooperation between the two countries were discussed at the event.

“We noted a great interest among the French. The Kazakh delegation gave a very detailed presentation on the ease of doing business in Kazakhstan,” he said.

On the sideline of the business forum, partnership cooperation was signed between large French manufacturers of information systems and solar panels and Kazakh companies.